Business travel

Space travel

Returning from the moon

HERE'S A nice story for business travellers frustrated by paperwork: when the Apollo 11 astronauts returned from the moon, they filled out a customs form and declared their cargo. Here it is, via Space.com and America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

I promise you this is real. But the story is more complicated than it might appear. Mssrs Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins did not actually have to fill out this form—they did so on a lark, presumably knowing it would amuse future travellers like ourselves. Mission accomplished, no?

My favourite bit of this is the line asking whether there was "any condition on board which may lead to the spread of disease", and someone has typed "TO BE DETERMINED". It seems very science-fiction-esque, but this was actually a real concern. NASA has an expert who studies the health effects of moon dust, and the Apollo 11 astronauts were quarantined upon their return from the moon. Here's Space.com's Tariq Malik:

Apollo 11 splashed down 920 miles (1,480 km) southwest of Hawaii and 13 miles (21 km) from the USS Hornet, a Navy ship sent to recover the crew. It took a two more days for the astronauts to actually return to Hawaii on July 26, where they were welcomed with a July 27 ceremony at Pearl Harbor.

The catch? The astronauts were trapped inside a NASA trailer as part of a quarantine effort just in case they brought back any germs or disease from the moon. They even wore special biological containment suits when they walked out on the deck of the USS Hornet after being retrieved.

NASA transported them to Houston, quarantine trailer and all, and they emerged from isolation three weeks later.

The truth, alas, is less fun than the joke. Then again, if you were going to spend three weeks cooped up in an isolation trailer, you might need a laugh, too.

To me, the most significant implication is that the Moon is not American territory. (Otherwise no customs form required.) Granted the Moon Treaty said the same thing. But this was a formal demonstration that they United States was abiding by it. "Lark"? Not so sure.

Another fun bit of space paperwork came from Apollo 13. North American Rockwell, who made the command and service module, received an invoice from Grumman Aerospace Corporation, who made the LEM lunar module. The astronauts had had to abandon the CSM following the explosion of the oxygen tank, and had used the LEM as a lifeboat on the trip back.

The invoice, which was sent a couple of days after the astronauts' safe return, totalled up $312,421.24 of charges to Rockwell for towing. Rockwell accepted it, but said it wouldn't pay until Grumman paid up for the delivery of the LEMs to the moon over the four previous missions.

@jouris
Another implication of this "Lark" is that any future permanent moonbases must issue its crews diplomatic passports from their countries of origin, since there are no 'local' authorities to process visa applications and such.

This is kind of hilarious. Either the US thinks that they have this kind of claim of power on the moon, or they're just messing around. I don't want to get too conspiratorial but perhaps a little of both?

the article and comments are fun-- but the reasons behind the quarantine are very real.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 requires that launching nations avoid harmful contamination' of celestial bodies and also avoid possible harmful impacts to Earth when returning materials (including astronauts) from the Moon or other locations in the solar system. (this doesn't apply to the Shuttle or Space Station missions-- they're still in Earth orbit-- not on celestial bodies).

when the first Apollo missions were launched, there was an Interagency Committee on Back Contamination (ICBC) that oversaw various 'planetary protection' measures. it was serious business-- and astronauts were quarantined on Earth for several weeks when they returned in order to do a rigorous battery of tests-- on the astronauts and the moon rocks-- to make sure they didn't harbor anything biohazardous (they didn't!). These provisions were in place for Apollo 11 as well as subsequent lunar missions-- until it was verified that there was no alien life brought back (even in the '60's there was awareness that there might be extraterrestrial life 'out there')

Believe it or not, the same Planetary Protection Policies still apply-- even for robotic missions to the Moon and Mars etc. -- although the restrictions are greater for Mars, which scientists believe may have evidence of ET life. NASA-- as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) -- actually have "Planetary Protection Officers" (yes that's their job titles!) who certify that missions meet international guidelines before they are launched (this involves a lot of spacecraft cleaning and microbial reduction-- just like they do in hospital surgical areas). In may ways, this is no different than public health officials trying to avoid the spread of disease-- or agricultural checks at airport to avoid importations of possible exotic organisms. If you're interested in reading more, see www.planetaryprotection.nasa.gov

A few years back, the excellent public radio programme "This American Life" aired a piece (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/329/nice-work-if-...) about the day-to-day lives of astronauts. From that I recall that NASA astronauts selected for a mission had to fill in an official travel request form ("Method of travel: 'Government Air', Meals and lodging: 'Provided'") as part of their paperwork.

I find this document quite comical in that rules these days in importing commercial goods are enforced no matter the circumstance. It really is funny how far mankind have come technologically in the last hundred years. I think the reason that this document made such headlines is because of how much they downplayed the arrival of the Apollo 11 from the moon in terms of assigning the passengers a commercial goods form to fill out. It is as though the moon, currently, is not some area in outer space; rather a country on the face of the Earth. As in the exact same forms and laws are applied to the astronauts as the regular folk. They really aren't given extra treatment, it appears.

As all the astronauts were military men and sci-fi always talks about the prescence of hostile alien life, were the astronauts armed?
Did they have a contingency plan for conflict or a hostile reception?
Any advanced NASA weapons like lasers, tasers or firearms? --Navy and Airforce pilots never fly without firearms.